Izroulia: Hunt for the Lost Pod

Chapter 49 | hot on the trail

So close to finding the pod, the group were back in Izroulia to report back to Haru and see how the buildings were coming along.

And so far, it looked pretty good. The framework of all the accommodations were starting to go up along the coast, everyone helping was out all day most days exited right help build a whole new area for the island. Styxx was helping Zagreus' parents with their new house. Momo was helping with the docks, and she'd looped some of her other fae friends into it as well. It was like looking at the shells of future houses, all the scaffolding and flooring starting to take shape. The group had been helping when they could, but the pod was their main concern here so it'd been a minute since they'd seen the progress in Izroulia.

When they arrived at the castle, they found that Haru's office was closed and guarded, meaning something important was going on and they'd have to wait to talk to him. So instead they went looking for Micha. Unsurprisingly he was in his office which looked like a historical bomb went off in it. Books everywhere, artefacts in boxes, tools all over the floor.

"God damn what happened in here?" Icarus snickered.

"Desperately looking for records, that's what" Micha replied, not looking up from whatever was on his desk.

Upon closer inspection they found he was looking at the same golden disk thing from before, this time with a magnifying glass and several books open.

"Figure out what that is yet?" Aries asked.

"Not exactly. It's definitely from Pharonium though, we got that right. I'm trying to decide the glyphs, but it looks like it's a mix of magic signals and hieroglyphics" Micha explained.

"Looks old as fuck" Zagreus said.

"It is, I estimate a few thousand years based on wear and the style. Although I can't find a single record on it, I don't think we got it Uh... legally. Someone probably stole it and bought it here. No idea who'd have done that though"

It was strange, they hadn't been able to contact Pharonium in a very long time, so who'd have stolen the disk-tablet thing and put it in Izroulias archives? Couldn't have been Agnemetra since Izroulia lost contact with the realm before she had the throne.

"Weird, by the way what's Haru doing?" Pandora asked.

"Oh! Yes that-"

Micha put the magnifying glass and book down, turning to face the Merfolk.

"He'd meeting with the empress of Tsuki no shimajima, re-establishing contact now Agnemetras gone" Micha explained.

"Oh good! We've always been on good terms with them, hate to loose that" Aries replied.

"That sounds Japanese, lemme guess that's he realm where Japanese myth comes from?" Zagreus said.

"That's the one"

The two realms had been allies for thousands of years, even having a population of each others mythics as people decided to move from realm to realm over the years. The high population of yokai in Izroulia all came from Tsuki no shimajima. Hence why there were lunar new year celebrations each year even though Izroulia was more Greco-Roman in origin.

"Who's the ruler now? Same as before the war?" Aries asked.

"There's a new empress, the one from before the war retired a few years back. Her name is Umeko Asahara and she's got the coolest hair, all white with red tips" Micha replied.

"Nine tailed kitsune?"

"Yep, that family have been in power for centuries. Good thing they're fair rulers"

So much progress was being made in Izroulia, it was great to see. Housing for the Merfolk, bonds with other realms being restored, efforts to achieve history correctly. It was all very encouraging, the group felt things would be ok from here on out. A knock on the office doors caught the groups attention, and when Micha told them to come in it was Haru and the empress.

"Oh you guys are here too" Haru said.

The human borns seemed star struck at the sight of the empress. They'd never seen a nine tailed kitsune outside anime on TV, she was gorgeous. Her hair was pulled up into an elaborate traditional updo, she had golden eyes with red markings on her cheeks. Her kimono was embroidered with cherry blossoms and all nine of her tails swayed elegantly when she moved.

"Those are the Merfolk I mentioned, I assume here for updates?" Haru said.

"Yep, didn't realise you were doing king things today. Sorry" Aries replied.

"It's fine, we're just making sure we're still allies after the war and all. This is Umeko Asahara - sama"

Aries was only a kid when the war happened so they'd never been to Tsuki no shimajima, but they had met some yokai before so they had some basic knowledge of the realm and their customs.

"It's Hajimemashite right?" They asked.

"That's right, Hajimrmashite. I'm glad to see there's still some living Merfolk. It'd be awfully tragic if there were none left" Umeko replied.

"I'm Aries, that's Icarus, Pandora and Zagreus. All human born"

"Human born? It's not often you see half human mythics"

This was the first time any of the human borns were meeting a ruler, aside from Haru. Although Haru was different, he wasn't a king when they first met. None of them really knew what to say or how to act.

"You guys stop acting like you're in the presence of a vengeful god, most rulers are chill" Aries snickered.

"I promise I'm not as trickster spirited as the legends make us kitsune's out to be. I'm mainly here to keep the peace between our realms, I'm actually rather impressed someone so young has been running a realm so well" Umeko said.

"Haru has been pretty good at the whole king thing, we picked a good one" Pandora agreed.

"You flatterers. Anyway, updates?" Haru replied.

Aries had bought the stuff they'd found on the island, and as soon as they pulled it out Micha was intrigued. He loved a good artefact.

Setting them on the table, everyone got a good look.

"This is hard evidence that we're getting closer. Found them on one of the islands off the coast" They said.

"That's definitely a spear, those look like conch filtering supplies" Micha replied.

"Exact what we were thinking. Pretty recent too" Icarus said.

"Definitely. They have some wear to them, but they're not by any means ancient. You're definitely onto something here, keep following that trail and you'll find them for sure"

Haru picked up the spear, he's spear fished before and knew how to use them. From the size it looked like one for an adult, taller stature.

"Looks like it's an adult sized one, whoever left it is probably old enough to remember the war. You're getting closer, good thing the build is coming along well" he said.

"If you need any extra builders I'd be happy to send some over by the way, getting a species back in the realm is definitely an important task" Umeko offered.

"That would be wonderful actually, we only have so many volunteers. And with his close these guys are getting we'll have to speed things along"

Things were going so well, they were so so close to reaching their goal. Victory was just in the distance, their fingertips could touch it.

With the help of another realm they'd absolutely be able to make things speed up. Haru was doing a wonderful job as king, Micha was thriving with his historical work, the realm was in a great place and the pod were so close to being found. And not to mention, Icarus would have her dad back when the pod was found. They all had strong motivations to make things work.

They were so close. So, so close they could taste the victory. And it tasted like salt water.